Dying For A Smile

When you think of hazardous places you're most likely to conjure up visions of nuclear waste dumps, Palestinian settlments in Gaza, or even more
dangerous "settlements" like... Occupy Wall street.

The last place you'd probably consider to be hazardous would be the local dentist office. However, as it turns out, the dentist is potentially worse
for your health than the others. It's not going to kill you with a bang, but it may cause conditions that have you go out with a silent whimper.

1. Fluoride Rinse

We've all heard of the dangers of fluoride countless times on ATS. The fluoride conspiracy is considered to be 'genuine' by most ATS members.
Fluoride is slightly less toxic than arsenic but more toxic than lead. Some even believe fluoride is linked to the #1 cause of death:

Even if you don't believe it's the leading cause of death, there is further evidence to support it causes a whole host of health conditions, including
cancer:

2. BSE Contamination (Mad Cow)

If fluoride is the most 'obvious' hazard that awaits you at the dentist, then BSE contamination is surely the least. It has been shown that prions,
the infections agent that causes forms of CJD (mad cow disease), can survive the typical cleaning of stainless steel instruments used in dentists'
offices, and CJD positive patients can spread the disease through these tools.

Prions are extremely hearty and can survive high heat and toxic chemicals that would kill most other organisms like virus's or bacteria. There has
been allot of concern lately that BSE has entered our food supply numerous times, as we have seen clusters of people die from vCJD (the human form of
mad cow). The problem is that any tools, or instruments that get contaminated with BSE stay contaminated, because the routine cleaning process is not
sufficient to kill the prion proteins that cause BSE/CJD. And, thus, these instruments could stay contaminated through the entire lifecycle of its
use.

Dentists have been told not to re-use instruments for root canal work because of a possibility they could infect patients with variant CJD.
The government's chief dental officer for England said there had been no cases of transmission, but research had shown a potential risk.

A visit to the dentist or dental hygienist now poses a clear and viable threat to patient health due to the re-use of invasive dental
instruments...which are exposed to the blood and saliva of patient after patient after patient. Of course, all good dentists and health care
professionals autoclave these instruments at around 240 F. to 'sterilize' them...which works well enough for virtually all bacteria and viruses.
Unfortunately, the prions which cause mad cow, CJD, vCJD, and nvCJD *cannot* be killed by anything less that 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Dentists have traditionally used mercury for fillings because of their wonderful properties when it comes to filing caveties. Unfortunately they have
some other less than wonderful properties when it comes to your health. Mercury is one of the most toxic elements known to man and can cause birth
defects, and brain damage in healthy adults.

The FDA has, for decades, ridiculously insisted that mercury fillings pose no health threat whatsoever to children. While dismissing hundreds of
studies showing a clear link between mercury amalgam fillings ("silver fillings") and disastrous neurological effects in the human body, the FDA
denied the truth about mercury and effectively protected the mercury filling racket that has brought so much harm to so many people.

The lawsuit, entitled, Moms Against Mercury et al. v. Von Eschenbach, Commissioner, et al was concluded earlier this week with a reluctant
agreement by the FDA to both change its website on the issue of mercury and to reclassify mercury within one year, following a period of public
comment (which the agency will no doubt try to drag out as long as possible in order to avoid actually sticking to the terms of the lawsuit
agreement).

Dentists like to check the alignment of your teeth and gums to be extra sure everything is perfect in your mouth. Any little thing out of alignment
or place means more money, so it's no surprise that they probably want to find something wrong. X-rays' give them a opportunity to prove the
point.

Recently, a study was done that links X-rays given in a dentists office to a specific kind of brain cancer.

Getting frequent dental X-rays appears to increase the risk for a commonly diagnosed brain tumor, a new study finds.
Exposure to ionizing radiation -- the kind found in X-rays -- is the biggest known environmental risk factor for largely non-malignant meningioma
brain tumors. Routine dental X-rays are among the most common sources of radiation for most healthy people in the U.S.

During a routine cleaning, all sorts of bacteria get loosened from your gums and get the opportunity to move around your body as you constantly
swallow while getting your teeth cleaned. These bacteria can worsen pre-existing heart conditions which could lead to death. With the ever
increasing rate of heart problems in this country, that makes this a risky procedure.

The problem is the bacteria naturally found in our mouths. When you have dental work done, this can easily find its way into the bloodstream. For
the vast majority of people this is nothing to worry about, as the bacteria will be seen off by the various safety systems the body has in place.
However, the story is different for people with damaged or leaking heart valves. For reasons we don’t understand, bacteria seem to be attracted to
this area; the inner lining of the heart then becomes infected and inflamed, a condition known as endocarditis.
As the infection takes hold, clumps of bacteria build up on the heart valves, rather like barnacles on the hull of a ship.
These clumps make the inflammation worse and can affect how well the heart valve works - in some people they won’t be able to open and close because
of the weight of these clumps, which can be fatal.

Hydrogen Carbamid is the main active ingredient used in teeth whitening treatments. This chemical is very effective at teeth whitening, but as we've
seen with other chemicals, equally bad for your well being.

In general, a carbamide peroxide gel is placed in a dental tray, which is then worn by the patients for anywhere from a few hours to overnight.
Although initially available from a dentist, these preparations have become available directly to consumers.

Unfortunately hydrogen peroxide has been strongly linked to oral cancer in a study performed by Georgetown University:

Tooth whiteners containing carbamide peroxide were used infrequently in this small sample of patients with oral cancer. However, patients who used
these products tended to be less than 45 years old, to have nodal disease at presentation, and to not have other risk factors for cancer. This data
does not establish a link between these products and the development of oral cancer, but it does raise some intriguing possibilities. Even though
carbamide peroxide and the hydrogen peroxide generated in the whitening process are not proven carcinogens in the oral cavity, they cause local
inflammation and mucosal trauma at high concentrations. The complex interactions of this inflammatory response combined with the ability of free
radicals to act directly upon nucleic acids has an unpredictable effect on the tissues. The data suggests that the patients who used tooth whiteners
were more likely to present with metastatic lymph nodes. This finding, if confirmed by larger studies with more statistical power, would certainly
implicate whiteners as a significant factor in oral cancer tumor biology.

With so many health hazards posed by something as benign as the dentists office, one has to wonder what other dangers lurk within other industries,
like the food industry, or "Big Pharma." The truth is that corporations drive these industries and are legally bound to put profit over people. So
in the end, your health is worth less than than a percentage of a profit margin.

produced in the smokestacks of various industrial chemical producers. If they weren't selling this
substance to cities, they would have to pay a lot of money to have it handled as an environmental
hazard and buried in EPA-approved landfills.

The first pic in the OP makes me want to laugh until I cry. I was actually that girl in that picture once. It's why I haven't had a checkup in four
years. I've chosen to independently educate myself and take very meticulous care of my health and mouth on my own terms so I never, ever have to go
through something like that again.

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